Us
by Corinne Marie
Summary: Pansy and Percy and how they became a couple. Told largely in flashbacks, for The Odd Couples Competition by aaliona on the HPFC forum.


**A/N: Whew. So, this story was written for the Odd Couple Competition on the HPFC forum, although I'm a judge so it isn't really an official entry. The challenge, if it wasn't obvious enough, was to write the pairing I was given and make them believable. I was supposed to write about how they got together, or a scene showing how their relationship worked. And, well, if you know me, you know I can't make decisions. So I did both.**

**As I said, it's told largely in flashbacks, so I hope it doesn't seem too jumpy...**

**Anyway, Disclaiming any rights to Harry Potter or the affiliated characters, as they do not and never will belong to me.**

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><p>Percy fell down face first onto his bed as soon as he entered his bedroom. In hindsight, he probably should have checked first, but he didn't. Which is why he heard a small, girlish yelp come from underneath him and sat up immediately. The woman in his bed sat up too, then, and glared at him.<p>

"What is wrong with you, Weasley? Don't you ever look where you're going?"

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><p>"<em>Slytherin!" The sorting hat yelled, and Percy rolled his eyes. Another Slytherin. Great. That could only make his job harder.<em>

_He watched her as she sat down, right next to the Malfoy boy. Even better. She'd be friends with THAT boy. He sighed and shook his head, and then he heard Harry Potter called up to be sorted. He turned and stared, of course, as did everyone, and forgot about the girl._

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><p>"<em>He stares at me sometimes. It's a little odd," She told her friends. They had giggled at that.<em>

"_Can you believe that? A Weasley! Ha! As if he could ever have a girl like YOU!" Daphne had said, grinning. Draco had approached by then, and wrapped his arm around her shoulders._

"_As if a Weasley is good enough for anyone." They wandered through Hogsmeade slowly, laughing as they passed Neville Longbottom, who seemed to have slipped on the icy ground._

"_Seriously, though, Pansy, maybe you should say something to him," Daphne said with a devilish grin. "It's rude to leave him without an answer."_

_Pansy rolled her eyes. "As if I'd ever talk to him."_

_Blaise looked around, and then laughed. "Oh, jeez, look at him," he said. "You really can't miss him, he's wearing a yellow hat!"_

_They all turned to look, and Pansy giggled._

"_Hey, Weasley, what's with the hat?" Draco asked. "You afraid of getting lost?"_

_Percy glanced at them, catching Pansy's eye for just a moment, and then shook his head and turned back to some Ravenclaw girl he'd been talking to._

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><p>"Sorry," he mumbled, sliding off of his bed. "I just really need a nap."<p>

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "When do they need you back?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Not until tomorrow morning."

She stared up at the ceiling and took out the hair clip holding her black hair against the back of her head. "You should come to bed, then," she said, holding a hand out to him.

He took it and kissed her knuckles gently. "First, I have something for you."

She sat up straighter and a smile instantly spread across her face. "Oh? What for?"

"For Christmas," he muttered as he dug through the pockets of his coat, not looking at her.

"Christmas isn't for another three weeks, Percy. Why now?" He didn't answer. "Percy, answer me."

He sighed and stood up, turning to look at her. She could see the snow from outside melting in his hair still in the dim light, and she would have gotten up to get him a towel to dry off with, but she was too angry with him right now.

"They're making me work all through Christmas."

She smacked her hand down on the bed and let out what he would have classified as a growl if he thought that it wouldn't make her angrier. "Why?"

"Well, we're really busy right now, love and…"

He started towards her, but she climbed swiftly out of their bed from the other side, glaring at him, although she knew he wouldn't be able to see how angry her eyes looked. "I don't care how busy you are. We were supposed to spend Christmas with my family this year, Percy. And they only agreed to this because they thought you were a good, honest man who made their daughter happy, and now you're just going to make them assume I'm wrong about you."

He waited a few seconds to make sure she was finished before he started to speak. "Well, maybe you can just tell them that I'm working hard to support you," he said, walking towards her. She turned away from him.

"Something always goes wrong at Christmas time."

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><p>"<em>Pansy?" Her parents called up the stairs to her. She glanced at her door and then back to the man in her bed, fear in her eyes as he lazily ran a hand through his curly red hair.<em>

"_Oh, no, they're not supposed to be home yet," she whispered._

_He reached up and touched her face. "Maybe it's time they found out about us."_

"_Not like this!" she whispered angrily, looking around. "In the closet. Now!" She jumped off of her bed and pulled on his hand. He stood more slowly than she would have hoped and got in her closet. She laid down in her bed, pulling her sleep shirt over her head quickly and sliding under the covers. She had just closed her eyes as her parents opened the door._

"_Pansy! It's almost noon! Why are you still in bed?"_

_She opened her eyes slowly and glanced up at her father, who was tugging on her foot playfully, as if she was a child. She smiled at him anyway. "Hello, Daddy. You're home early."_

"_Is this what you've been doing since we left?" her mother asked disapprovingly, "Sleeping in?"_

_Pansy shook her head as she sat up. "I've just been working so hard on school work, I thought I could take a break today."_

"_Well, you can't," came her mother's always disapproving voice. "We've got to cook dinner. The relatives are coming tonight."_

"_The reason we're home early, by the way," her father said. "Just got the owl from Aunt Jane."_

_Pansy nodded and smiled. "Alright. Let me get dressed and I'll be right down."_

_Her father nodded and ushered her mother out of the room. When her mother's footsteps hit the stairs, he father turned back to Pansy and whispered with a wink, "Your shirt's on backwards, by the way. Did you know?"_

_She looked down at herself and rolled her eyes at her father. He was right, of course. It was on backwards. But he really shouldn't tease her like that._

_She stood as soon as her door closed and ran to her closet. "You could have disapparated any time, you know," she whispered._

"_I didn't want them to hear," he whispered back. "Besides, I didn't know if there were charms around this place preventing that."_

"_No, no, Daddy would never allow that. Just go, okay?" She turned, but he grabbed her hand and turned her back towards him._

"_Maybe it's time they knew," he whispered, and then kissed her fingertips. She pulled her hand away._

"_No. It's not. Because you know what they'll do? They'll hate you. They'll never leave me alone again. They might even pull me out of school so that they can watch me all the time. I can't stand to be here and watched by them ALL. THE. TIME."_

_He sighed. "Alright. Fine. When can I see you again?"_

_She glanced at her door. "I'll send an owl. Just go, please."_

_He touched her cheek and forced her look at him, and then he kissed her, so soft and slow it almost made her melt. And then he pulled away and smiled, and disappeared with a loud pop._

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><p>He approached her slowly, almost afraid that she would hit him. When he was right behind her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck, pushing her hair out of the way with his chin. She sighed contentedly as he did this.<p>

"Oh, I wish you didn't know that about me," she whispered, uncrossing her arms slowly and half-heartedly pushing at him with her elbow.

"What? That doing this makes you go weak at the knees? Or that it'll make you forgive me every time?"

She rolled her eyes, even though he couldn't see her. "How did I ever end up with a prat like you?"

He chuckled lightly in her ear.

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><p><em>He'd seen her before, of course. At school. At Hogsmeade. But he'd never seen her looking like THAT. She was dazzling. Beautiful.<em>

_He approached her slowly, almost scared of her. She was so snakelike on a regular basis. Everyone must have been scared of her. But as he approached, having checked of course that Draco Malfoy wasn't around, it was with more confidence than he'd ever approached a GIRL before._

_She turned quickly when he tapped on her shoulder and gave him a disgusted look. "What do you want?"_

"_Would you dance with me?"_

_She shook her head immediately and said "Never," with a small smile, promptly turning away from him again._

"_Alright. I suppose you're just scared of what your friends will say."_

_She turned and gaped at him. "I'm not scared of anything," she said snootily._

"_Of course not. So dance with me."_

_She shook her head again. "No. Goes against my morals to dance with people like you."_

_He smiled and grabbed her arm. "Just one dance. To prove you aren't scared."_

_She sighed, and set one arm on his shoulder as the slow dance started. He took her hand and pulled her close by her waist._

"_Hey, not so close. I'm here with my boyfriend, remember."_

"_And he's not anywhere to be seen."_

_She sighed and shook her head. "He could be back any second."_

"_Best be quick then," he said, and kissed her lips quickly._

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><p>"<em>What is wrong with you? Don't you ever watch where you're going?"<em>

"_I didn't mean to run into you, you know."_

"_Maybe if you were paying attention!"_

_Her parents had approached then, making the bright day in Diagon Alley seem just a little more dull. "What's going on, Pansy dear?" her father had asked._

"_Nothing, Daddy. This boy just ran into me."_

"_I didn't do it on purpose!" Percy exclaimed. "I admit, I was probably carrying too many books, but I only ran into her because I couldn't see."_

_He was flustered. She could see that, and for a moment, she almost felt bad for him. But really, she wouldn't care until she got an apology._

"_I'm sure it wasn't your fault. Here, let us help you," her father said, and Pansy stared at him as if she felt betrayed._

"_That's not necessary, really," Percy said as he knelt down and started to pick things up. They were all school books, some of them old and outdated, and most looked as if they'd been owned by more than one person._

"_Why are you carrying all these books, anyway?" Pansy's father asked politely as he disregarded Percy's words and knelt to help him._

"_I'm returning them. You know, so that other kids can buy them if they need them."_

_Pansy's mother scoffed at this and turned to walk away. Pansy almost joined her, but changed her mind as she saw Percy looking so relieved to have a bit of help. She knelt down and joined the two men._

"_Don't you have someone who can help you with this?" she asked. "I seem to recall you having a rather large family."_

_His face fell a bit. "No. I mean, I do, but…they aren't speaking to me."_

"_Why not?" Her father asked._

"_Well… I've been a bit of a prat I suppose. But I just don't think I have the courage to tell them that."_

_Between the three of them, they managed to pick up all the books and carry them into the store. When they'd all been taken back – except the ones that were outdated – Pansy's father offered to buy him lunch. Pansy nodded when he asked if she would join them._

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><p>"Next Christmas, I promise," he whispered against her neck.<p>

She smiled and let out a little moan of agreement. "As long as you get me to bed right now."

"Done."

**~End~**

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><p><strong>AN: Reviews, please. Again, I hope it wasn't too confusing. And that it was believable enough.**


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